IRAN REJECTS ISRAEL’S CLAIM OF SENDING MISSILES TO GAZA
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham said on Friday that the allegation made concurrent with the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in the US and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington is aimed at distracting public attention by bogus and fraudulent issues.
Israel earlier claimed that its naval forces had raided a ship in the Red Sea and seized dozens of rockets from Iran destined for Hamas in Gaza. Press TV reported as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).
Afkham noted that the pro-Israeli lobby, which failed to prevent diplomatic resolves on Iran’s nuclear issue, has publicly stated that it aims to sabotage and derail the nuclear talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain — plus Germany.
Iran and the six countries inked an interim deal on Tehran’s nuclear energy program in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 24 last year. The Geneva accord, dubbed the Joint Plan of Action, took effect on January 20.
In Gaza, Palestinian resistance movements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad also rejected the Israeli accusation.
Hamas Interior Ministry called the Israeli claim a dangerous move aimed at justifying the seven-year blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, which is a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
The Israeli regime creates “illusions out of nothing” and “seduce[s] people into accepting a version of reality that in fact does not exist,” Mark Glenn, political commentator from Idaho said in an interview on Friday.
The analyst made the remarks in response to a recent allegation by Israel that Tehran sought to send missiles to the blockaded Gaza Strip. Israel claimed that its naval forces had raided a ship in the Red Sea and seized dozens of rockets from Iran destined for Hamas in Gaza.
Glenn said that the allegation was made concurrent with the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby in the US to have “maximum effect”.(T/P04/P03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
